What It Means
by Ed Westwicker
Summary: One shots of scenes from the characters lives. Not drabbles! I'll keep going until I run out of ideas. Rated T for language and mentions of violence and death.
1. The Treacherous Black

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. This is for all chapters!**

Bellatrix Lestrange was known as crazy.

Always was and always will be, as the saying goes.

But she wasn't really. She was just a person that went astray. She just didn't know which way to turn. She just needed something better. A new life to live for. Someone else that could show her which way to turn. Someone that could tell her what would happen if she lived like she does now.

She was looking at the one place that she had always called home. The one place where people looked up at her, wanting to become her with all of their minds.

But now she was about to destroy that place. Her master was behind her, smiling like he always did when things were going his way. Bellatrix smiled back, but it was only half-hearted. She didn't really feel like being there. Of course she would pretend that she was truly happy, but if she could be anywhere but here, she would.

Friends of the family were in there, trying to comfort their children. Trying to comfort themselves by saying foolish things like, "Everything will be all right. No harm will come to you." Those fools! Didn't they know what the hell was happening right outside? The Dark Lord was out here and waiting to kill every single one of them without a second thought.

Bellatrix looked up at the man she had quickly fell in love with. He looked down at her and gave her a real smile. She smiled half-heartedly back and then grimaced at what was about to happen.

She felt a familiar presence next to her and looked at her younger sister. It was Narcissa, the Ice Princess of the North Pole. She gave her sister and half smile, trying to exude confidence, but she knew it wasn't working.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Narcissa said quietly.

Bellatrix turned to her sister angrily and then grabbed her wrist. It was cold, like Narcissa's eyes had started to look towards her sister. She pulled her sister toward the edge of the woods. Dark met silver as Bellatrix stared at her sister harshly.

"What did you say to me?!" she hissed.

"You. Don't. Have. To. Do. This," Narcissa said calmly. Bellatrix scoffed. "Why don't you believe me, Bella? Think how many people's deaths are going to be on your conscious!"

"I'm not planning on making it out alive, Cissy!"

"What are you talking about now? You _have_ to make it out alive!"

"Have and won't are two completely different things, Cissy. Trust me, I have known both. Tell Andy that I miss her will you?"

"Bella! You are going to make it out alive! Listen to me when I tell you that you don't have to do this! These people trust and look up to you? Isn't that what you've wanted all your life?"

"No! I've wanted to die ever since I got out of Azkaban. Nothing means more to me than ridding the world of the Dark Lord and then ridding the world of myself. I'm not the person you thought you knew, Cissy. Believe me when I say that."

Bellatrix turned away from her sister without a word more. Narcissa stared after her strong sister and wondered how things could have gone so wrong. Bellatrix finally looked up at the castle with a real smile. Tears tumbled down her cheeks and that finally released everything that she had been holding in. She let out a high-pitched laugh. The Dark Lord followed and then signaled them to go in.

Hogwarts was Bellatrix's first and last real home. She would never meet a place like it again.


	2. The Final Goodbye

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. This is for all chapters!**

Mrs. Abbott was pacing through her living room. She was constantly on edge these days. There was nothing protecting her daughter. Her one and only daughter, her pride and joy.

She could remember Hannah was born. That tiny, precious, living and breathing thing that was in her hands. She remembered the happiness that had elated her, making her incredibly protective of this little girl. She couldn't have been happier. Except for one other time. Her daughter had received the letter to Hogwarts. Supposedly the safest place for anything to be kept.

But now she wasn't so sure. Her one and only daughter as being held up in that cave a place. No one was keeping a watch on her except for Professor Snape. She remembered her daughter complaining about him over the summer. Saying that he favored his own house when all of the other teachers knew that that was wrong.

But he was the only one that could protect her now.

Her daughter. Her beautiful, blonde daughter.

She remembered getting the letter from Hogwarts, saying what house she was in. Hufflepuff. That house had been the laughing stock of the school when she was young. Her daughter was a Hufflepuff, which changed everything.

Her daughter, her pride and joy. The one person that she could depend on that was going to be there all the time.

But now Mrs. Abbott had something new to worry about. The Death Eaters were sure to come calling. She was a muggle-born. All of them were after the muggle-borns.

Mrs. Abbott's husband had been killed. There was nothing that could save him now. He was dead and that kept Mrs. Abbott on edge now.

But there was a knock on her door. An angry knock, a knock that threatened to break down her front door. The front door that had protected her and her daughter for so many years. She cautiously opened the door and saw black hooded and masked people outside. Their wands were drawn and she immediately fell down on her knees. "NO!" she screamed.

"Don't try to fight, Abbott!" the man hissed. She trembled even more and the harsh voice that had come through the mask.

"I'm not! J-Just don't hurt me!" Mrs. Abbott whispered. The two men laughed harshly. She quaked even more, shaking so badly she thought that her teeth would fall out of her head.

"J-Just don't hurt me!" the second man said cruelly, mocking her with every bone in his body.

She could start to feel tears running down her face. They were like hot coals burning and scalding her cheeks with each one. The men laughed at this, seeing her fear written on every fiber of her being.

"Please! I have a daughter! Take me in to jail, torture me! Anything, just don't kill me!" Mrs. Abbott screeched. The first man shrugged and pointed his wand at her.

"_Crucio!"_ he almost whispered.

Mrs. Abbott writhed in pain and screamed for a second time. The men laughed again, obviously enjoying this. He pointed his wand at her again and she screamed louder this time. Finally the wand was pulled away and she was breathing heavily. The pain still etched into her mind. She was scared this time, not wanting to die, but not wanting to go through that pain again.

"Now we can do this the right way this time!" the second man hissed. He pointed her wand and Mrs. Abbott one final time and whispered harshly, _"Avada Kedavra!"_

Mrs. Abbott let out one final breath when the green light hit her chest. She crumpled on the floor, letting the blackness take over her. She didn't have to worry about the pain anymore; she didn't have to worry about anything anymore. Her final thought was of her beautiful daughter. Of her daughter that had nothing anymore. No father and no mother. What would happen to her beautiful, blonde daughter now that she had no one?


	3. Tears

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. This is for all chapters!**

James Potter was looking around the grounds. He knew exactly where Evans was going to be.

That may sound stalkerish, but it wasn't. Trust me.

He looked around once more and finally saw the bright red of her hair. He smiled and then turned to Sirius Black. "You know what I gotta do," James said with a laugh.

"Sure. Whatever you say," Sirius responded, turning away with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. They shot James one final look and then walked away.

James ran one final hand through his hair, trying to make it perfectly messy. He finally walked over to Lily Evans, the prettiest girl in his year. Well, in James eyes anyway. He didn't care what other people thought, that had always been true. And there she was the person that he had been pining over for the past five years. He was sixteen now, and tired of the way she was ignoring him.

"Hey, Evans," he said with a smirk. She looked up at him with her green eyes wet with tears.

"Hey, Potter," she said thickly. He sat down next to her and just looked at her. Her red hair was blowing in the wind and yet there was different about her. Her face was lacking all of her defiant nature and she didn't seem to hate him as much as she usually did.

"What's the matter?" he asked softly, wanting with all his heart to put his arm around her, to tell her that it was all right, to tell her that he was there for her.

"Nothing that you would care about, Potter!" she spat. He rolled his eyes at her and then looked up at the sky, wanting to take in all of the beauty around him.

"Hey. How do you know that I wouldn't care? I care about a lot of things!" he countered, forcing her to look at him.

"I doubt it! All you boys care about is Quidditch and how many girls you can snog before the year is over!" James laughed at that. She had kind of hit the nail on the head there.

"Maybe that's what we want you girls to think! I personally want to know why you find so interesting to cry right now!" James smiled. Lily laughed to and looked him full in the face.

"James," she said quietly as though she was savoring the taste. "Do you have any siblings?"

James shook his head. He had always wondered what it would be like to have a younger brother or sister, but never had one.

"Well, then maybe I shouldn't tell you this." Lily's brows furrowed as her bright green eyes traced James' face.

"No. You can tell me. I promise I won't say a thing!"

"Fine. My sister, Petunia, hates me. She's hated me ever since I got the letter to come here to Hogwarts, but now it's even worse! She refuses to talk to me and I can't take it anymore! She's my sister, my best friend and now she's not going to be there for me anymore. James, do you understand that?" Lily's eyes started to well up with tears again. They spilled onto her cheeks and she could barely stem the flow.

"Hey, hey. Evans. Lily. It's all right. She'll talk to you again. I promise!" James said, his hands tracing circles onto her back.

She finally collapsed into sobs into his shirt. James just sat there, trying to soak all this in. Evans was actually allowing him to hold her. Even though she was absolutely soiling his shirt, she was holding onto him as if her life depended on it. He just held her there, trying to think of something to say that would make her stop. She finally looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy but someone still enticing.

"Thank you, Potter. Not saying anything was the perfect remedy. You know, you really aren't that bad. But I need to go; my studies are waiting for me!" She stood up and kissed James on the cheek. He waved to her and then felt the spot on his cheek. She truly was a random and enticing being. No wonder he fell in love with her.


	4. Death

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. This is for all chapters!**

**Hannah Abbott POV**

I remember sitting down in Herbology class.

I was nervous, I was _always_ nervous in those days.

And no wonder, everyone was dropping like flies now.

But then they came, that one messenger came in with the devastating news. My mother was found dead in our home. My mother. She was the only one I had left, considering my father died a few years ago.

What the hell would I do now?! I had no one left!

I remember just leaving quietly with him. He led me out of the greenhouse and I remember just sinking down to my knees and crying uncontrollably. My mother was gone, there was no one left for me!

"Are you going to be all right?" a warm voice asked me when I was found on the ground.

I looked up and saw Neville Longbottom on the ground next to me. "Yes, I'm fine," I whispered, standing up and smoothing out my uniform.

"No you're not," he sighed as he grabbed my arm and turned me around. "What just happened?"

"I have to go! I just—I just need to go back home!" I turned away from him and could feel the tears searing their way down my cheeks.

I walked behind the man that had left me alone when I sank to the ground. He let me take his arm and side-along apparate with him. We came up at my home.

The home where my mother let out her last breath. I broke down one more time, walking around our house and touching the things that reminded me of her. The man just stood there, looking immensely awkward, but not wanting to leave me alone in case I hurt myself. I couldn't stop crying, the tears just pouring out of my eyes without stop. My best friend in the world was gone and I couldn't ever get her back!

"Are you ready to go miss?" the man asked unceremoniously.

"Go where?" I managed to choke out. I finally collapsed onto our sofa. My legs were shaking so badly that I didn't believe I would stand up on them anymore.

"Your mother's funeral is tomorrow. We need to get you out of here so you can get ready and no one will come after you!" he said quickly.

"You don't even care!" I screamed my blonde hair whipping around my face in the wind from the open door. "You don't even care that my mother just died!"

"What do you want me to do!? Say, aw. Poor baby! Your mother is dead! What the hell do you want me to do?!" the man screamed back.

"That's exactly what I want you to do! I have no mother! I have no one and you're treating me like everything is fine and nothing has changed! What kind of a person are you?!" I screamed, surprising myself. I had never been one to lose my temper, but he had just disregarded my mother's death and as such it was a special circumstance.

I took one look at the man and the surprise written all over his meaty face and decided that I didn't have to put up with it anymore. I walked straight out of the house and didn't look back.

Of course I had no where to go. No one to see. But it helped to feel the cold air hit my face and just be able to sit down and cry. I finally decided to apparate to London and figure it out from there.


End file.
